Method and means for producing missiles in flight



Jam 3- w. B. COLVIN 2,309,166

METHOD AND MEANS FOR PRODUCING MISSILES I-N FLIGHT Filed May 29, "1942 INVENTOR. Wu! 5. ('04 1/14;

Patented Jan. 26, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND MEANS FOR PRODUClNG MISSILES IN FLIGHT 4 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a method and means by which flying missiles will be serially broken from an end of a rod or bar of material and automatically set in motion through a defined trajectory at a speed exceeding that of the origin piece.

At present, my thought is that my invention is primarily useful as a toy, by means of which short lengths of uncooked spaghetti may be automatically produced and ejected in imitation of the operation of a machine gun, but it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily so limited as to its use, either as to purpose or material used in connection therewith.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention.

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, of the simplest form of my invention; and

Fig. 2 a perspective view of a. toy in which the fundamental element of my invention is incorporated.

In the drawing 10 indicates a tube medially bent, as indicated at I I, thereby providing a bent channel having a receiving end 12 and a discharge end I3. I4 indicates a stick of uncooked spaghetti or other material capable of slight bending followed by snapping rupture in the plane of the bend accompanied by resilience in the material tending to restore the material to its original unbent condition.

The cross-sectional dimensions of the tube I should be such as to permit the missile-forming material to slide readily into the unbent end of the tube and such that the forward end of the origin material, after passing the point of bend of the tube, will be deflected by the discharge portion of the tube sufiicient to cause enough bending of the origin material to result in a sudden snapping of the material approximately at the point of bend of the tube. The dimensions of the tube therefore will vary in accordance with the character and physical qualities of the material M from which the missiles are to be formed. When the missile forming material is uncooked spaghetti, the bore of the tube [0 should be greater than the diameter of the spaghetti but preferably less than twice the diameter of the spaghetti, for the reason that such a diameter provides a better directional control of the movements of the broken particles, yet prevents jamming of the tube by attempted introduction of two pieces of the origin material simultaneously.

Referring to Fig.2, I6 indicates a hollow resonant body serving as a support for tube Hi0 within which the tube I0 is embedded.

When a rod of spaghetti is finally projected into tube [0 by a continuously exerted pressure, successive short missiles [5 of the forward end of this rod will be snapped from the supply rod and they will fly outwardly from the discharge end of the tube to a considerable distance. If the support for tube H3 is resonant, the issuance of the missiles IE will be accompanied by audible sounds simulating a machine-gun operation.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of producing a flying missile from a supply rod of snappable material which consists in propelling said rod into an openended intermedially bent channel of such character that propelling force on the missile-forming material will propel the free end thereof past the bend of the channel and intermedially distort the missile-forming material sufliciently to cause sudden snapping thereof whereby the mapped end will be projected from the channel at a speed exceeding the speed of the supply rod.

2. As an article of manufacture, a main body having an open-ended bent channel formed therein and so proportioned that when a rod of snappable material is propelled into the receiving end of the channel and suiliciently beyond the bend therein, a short section of said missileforming material will be suddenly snapped from the leading end thereof and discharged from the discharge end of the channel by the force developed by the snapping operation.

3. The method of producing flying missiles of raw spaghetti which consists in propelling a rod of such material into and through an intermedially bent channel causing snapping ruptures of short lengths from the forward end of said material within the channel whereby said short lengths are ejected from the discharge end of the channel at a speed materially exceeding the speed of introduction into the channel.

4. As an article of manufacture, a resonant body, an open-ended passage carried by said body and medially bent so that its discharge end is laterally displaced sufficiently to distort material propellable therethrough beyond its snapping limit, whereby snappable material propelled into the receiving end of said passage will issue therefrom in the form of shorter pieces and at a speed exceeding the speed of introduction.

WAYNE B. COLVIN. 

